Middle States Commission on Higher Education

15

State University of New York State College of Optometry

Recommendations

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Middle States Standard 7 Institutional Assessment The goals and objectives of the PhD program need to be articulated.

Chapter C. Faculty, Research and Scholarly Activities

This Chapter covers the following standards:

ACOE Standards: Standard III Research and Scholarly Activity, Standard V Faculty

Middle States Standards: Standard 10. Faculty

ACOE Standard III.Research and Scholarly Activity

The vibrant and growing nature of the College’s research program can be summarized by examining the growth of extramural funding, which has increased from $622,000 in 1996 ‐ 97 to just under $4M in 2010 ‐ 11 (projected). In spite of difficult economic conditions, the College is making good progress toward its strategic goal of $5M in funding. Faculty members of the College hold a total of 33 extramural grants and the College holds a NEI T ‐ 35 training grant that supports the research activities of professional students working in selected laboratories. Other indicators of scholarly activity include faculty publications, invited talks and published abstracts presented at scientific and professional meetings. For 2008 ‐ 2010, the faculty, post ‐ docs and graduate students were authors of 98 publications and 136 published abstracts. (3.1) The College employs 141 full ‐ and part ‐ time paid faculty members for a total full ‐ time equivalent of 89.2. Faculty members may hold an appointment of either qualified (e.g., clinical and some research appointments) or non ‐ qualified rank (tenure ‐ track/tenured). Per SUNY Board of Trustees policies, qualified appointments are not eligible for tenure, but may be renewed indefinitely. Faculty members in the departments of Biological and Visual Sciences hold doctorates related to the field in which they teach. The majority of those faculty members have participated in post ‐ doctoral research training. Optometrists with appointments in Clinical Sciences hold an OD degree, New York State optometric license and are credentialed by the University Eye Center. (5.1, 5.1.1) To encourage faculty participation in College governance, the College encouraged the faculty to reorganize its committee structure so that certain key committees are elected from and by members of the faculty. The new elected Faculty Executive Committee (FEC), which consists of the presiding officer, presiding officer elect, secretary, faculty senator, faculty senator alternate, professional program representative and graduate program representative, is responsible for facilitating communication and coordination of activities among the President, Dean ,Vice ‐ presidents, and the faculty. (5.2) In October of 2009, a new program was introduced wherein a primary supervisor was assigned to each faculty member. The advisor’s role is to facilitate faculty development to achieve professional goals, and to provide guidance and mentoring of individual faculty members, including career development and advancement. (5.3)Faculty members are to meet with their supervisor at least annually to review the past year, establish goals for ACOE Standard V. Faculty